KIDS to meet Congresswoman McMorris Rogers and Jerome Lejeune Foundation at National Right to Life Headquarters

Agenda for National Right to Life Committee Headquarters at 512 10th Street, Washington DC

• 10:45 - Melissa and Neil Sloan will be at NRLC by 10:45 to greet KIDS families.
• 11:00  KIDS families may start arriving. at 512 10th St, NW Washington, DC
• 11:00-11:30 - Leticia is meeting EWTN for an interview behind the stage of the March for Life at the Mall and 4th Street. 
• ALL KIDS members are welcome to join us and hold signs for the interview. 
•  Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers will arrive at 12:15  for a brief update on her work on behalf of our children
• Madame Valerie Guilloux of the Jerome Lejeune Foundation will address the group and present Congresswoman McMorris Rogers with a copy of "Life is a Blessing".
• After a brief brunch, KIDS families will march!

March for Life 2010 Slideshow

The Free Republic board is full interesting commentary on my article Against the Tide about the media blackout of the March for Life. One man said that we should march in New York up to MSNBC's door. I wonder if they would cover us even then. They'd still have their cameras trained on six women supporting abortion in DC. But, as I note in my article, young people know how to use the New Media.

Here's a wonderful example.
View the slideshow here.

Against the Tide; NARAL protesters at the March for Life

   Hundreds of thousands of college age demonstrators flooded the Mall on that balmy winter Friday. Thirty seven years ago, decades before most of them were born, the Blackmun Supreme Court handed down an earth shattering decision; Roe v Wade.

Abortion was now legal throughout nine months of pregnancy across the nation. They were there to protest a decision which could have cost them their lives. They were survivors of Roe v Wade. Over 50 million of their peers did lose their lives to that decision, literally a third of the generation which now surged past the Capitol Building, to stand in protest before the Supreme Court.

A living tsunami, they held signs like “All Politics are Local; they begin in the Womb”. They listened in silence to Dr Alveda King, niece of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. express regret over her two abortions, and assure them that her uncle was indeed pro-life.

Somewhere, deep in the crowd, there were dissenters. A tiny band of counter protesters, about a dozen in number, circled tightly in front of the cameras with their blue “Keep Abortion Legal” signs. They were members of another generation, the legacy of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, women who had burned their bras with Gloria Steinem,and they were there to celebrate “choice”. One of their members doggedly walked against the swell of humanity climbing Capitol Hill, looking like a salmon swimming against the spring freshet to spawn. Except that her message was one of sterility, inundated by the tide of fecundity. Did she catch the irony?

This year’s March for Life, following on the heels of the Massachusetts Miracle, was the largest ever. It occurred in the year when polls reflect a sea change of opinion against abortion, yet the mainstream media either blacked out or downplayed the event. No news cameras besides Fox and EWTN were visible, and no photographers took aerial shots of the Mall full of marchers, the way they had during the Inauguration the year before, when ‘even the seagulls’ were exuberant at the crowds. Comments were muted and photographs of individuals, not crowds. Both the NARAL huddle and the sea of humanity were given equal play in USA Today, Newsweek, and Rick Sanchez, CNN anchor openly wondered which group was larger. Jill Stanek took on Newsweek blogger Krista Gesaman on her characterization of March for Life participants as geriatric. Only the Washington Post columnist Robert McCartney, admittedly pro-abortion, stated that the crowds were young, much to his chagrin, in "Young activists add fuel to the anti-abortion side". At least he took the time to attend the March before reporting on it.
Pro-life blogger Jill Stanek took Krista Gesamen to task in her piece in Big Journalism  for characterizing those in the March for Life as too old to walk the former (shorter) route up Constitution Avenue.

The left must suppress the truth that the pro-life movement is on the March and that they have thousands of reinforcements in order to preserve their chances for big gains under the most pro-abortion president in US history. They just missed a chance for health care reform to enshrine Planned Parenthood within the federal government, and their futures look pretty grim now that the next generation has arrived.

View videos of the March here and decide for yourself.

Rabbi Levin at the March for Life

Setting the record straight; 350,000 marched for life

Mainstream media ignore the March for Life

Hardly  a news headline, is it, that the mainstream media studiously ignore the largest grassroots event in DC every year. We are used to it and trying to overcome it, by using the New Media.
Here's a lackluster article by the Washington Times. Notice the close ups, No one takes the panoramic shots of the huge crowd which were taken at the Inauguration where "even the birds were impressed by the crowd".
I was impressed by the crowd, because, unlike previous years, I never saw the end of it. It just kept coming, younger and stronger than before (at least the reporter noted that the crowd consisted of mostly collge kids, not what Newsday once said pejoritavely in the 70's, "middle-aged housewives with meatloaf sandwiches". This middle aged housewife had fresh sandwiches from the lovely spread put out by the National Right to Life Committee after a mini-conference with Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers and her son Cole. This photo is from her email describing her participation in the March for Life.
I'll share the photos we took later, for now,  go to Neil Sloan's collection of photos on Picassa.

Can't attend the March for Life?

The Friars of the Immaculate are live webcasting the March on AirMaria.com tomorrow from 11AM to 5PM.  Don't forget to sign up for the Virtual March for Life and support those of us who are marching in prayer.So far there are 50,000 participants, including Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin.
 And.. .talk it up on Facebook, Twitter, your blogs, your forums. We always get blocked from mainstream media, so we count on the New Media to spread the word.

Meet me at the March for Life

My group Keep Infants with Down Syndrome will be hosting a reception with Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rogers (R-WA) who is on the Congressional Down Syndrome Caucus at 10:30 AM at:
National Right to Life Headquartes
512 10th Street, NW
Washington DC 20004
(202)626-8800

At noon, after an hour's worth of inspirational speeches, free refreshements and fellowship, we will take up our signs, don our signature blue and yellow scarves and take KIDS to the streets. We will join the March for Life, a short walk from NRTL headquarters, and march together in solidarity for the unborn child with Downs yndrome 90%of whom are being denied life through abortion.

Join us!

Personhood is the theme of this year's March for Life

"The appellee and certain amici [pro-lifers] argue that the fetus is a 'person' within the language and meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. In support of this, they outline at length and in detail the well-known facts of fetal development. If this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant's case, of course, collapses, for the fetus' right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment"

These words, spoken by Supreme Court Justice Blackmun, on the day Roe v Wade was passed, January 22, 1973 may well prove the undoing of abortion in America. All we have to do to end abortion in America is to have unborn children declared persons. Then the Constitution kicks in and they can not be murdered.

A personhood movement, sparked by American Life League(see the header of this blog) has caught on, causing several states to hold elections on whether an unbaby is a person with the same rights as any American. Sounds logical, right, if terrorists have their day in court, the least we can do is offer the same dignity to soon to be citizens.
Personhood amentdments have not yet passed, but the votes were close enough  to rattle  the NARAL crowd. And we're gaining traction.

This year's March for Life has, as it's theme "Personhood".

Read the entire article at World Net Daily.

Keep Infants with Down syndrome is on the march again!

FAMILES WHO HAVE CHILDREN WITH DOWN SYNDROME

TO MARCH TOGETHER IN THE 2010 MARCH FOR LIFE in D.C.

TO RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT THE HIGH INCIDENCE OF ABORTING BABIES WITH DOWN SYNDROME

KIDS (Keep Infants with Down Syndrome), a group of families who have children with Down syndrome, will meet for the second year in a row and walk together in the 2010 March for Life in Washington, D.C.

KIDS wants to raise awareness about the 90% abortion rate of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome, to challenge the misinformation that often leads mothers to abort their babies with Down syndrome, and to proclaim the joy their children bring to their families and communities.

DATE & TIME: Friday, January 22, 2009, 11:00 a.m. to Noon

LOCATION: National Right to Life Committee, 512 10th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

 Meet for refreshments prior to walking together in the 2010 March for Life

This event is open to individuals with Down syndrome and their families and friends.

For more information please contact Eileen Haupt or Leticia Velasquez.

Eileen Haupt

vteileen@comcast.net

Leticia Velasquez

marysjoys@yahoo.com

Nomination for ALL pro-life blog award.

Thank you to whoever nominated Causa Nostrae Laetitiae for American Life League's 2010 Pro-life Blog Awards. I am honored to be among some of the best blogs out there, and to be nominated after winning the Pro-life Unity Award in 2009. It would be an honor to win again, though part of me wants someone else to have a turn, but I had a wonderful time at the ALL Conference last year and would welcome a return visit.

 I will defer to vox populi since this year the awards are won by a popular vote, rather than a panel.
 IF you think this is the best pro-life blog out there, you can vote for Causa Nostrae Laetitiae here.

KIDS in the National Right to Life News and Views

An excellent article by Dave Andrusko on the grassroots movement that gave rise to KIDS Keep Infants with Down syndrome, and our participation in the March for Life this year.
Read the entire article here.

A pro-life teen encourages us to get networked!

But please do not think this is just for young people. You don’t need to be a technology “wiz” to use any of these social networking tools. If you have a young person in the house, nine chances out of ten they use all of these vehicles. They can teach you how to use one or all of them in a very, very short period of time.
Through online social networks, the youth of our movement are becoming better connected with each other and with our cause. If we continue to nurture and encourage this exciting new trend, the future of the pro-life movement will only get brighter as our bonds grow stronger!
HT National Right to Life News. Read the entire story here.
This was undeniably the most common message at the March for Life Conferences this year: get connected! Those of us who blog feel more connected than most, however, in one week on Facebook, I have over 300 pro-life 'friends' with whom I share news, join causes, encourage, console in grief, pray for, and form networks. Many of them you will know: Norma McCorvey, Sandra Cano, FrMichael Scanlan, Fr Frank Pavone, Joe Schiedler, Chris Slattery, David Bereit, Jill Stanek, Dr Alveda King, Senator Sam Brownback, and Lila Rose.
Did I mention that my blog readership has increased?!

Then come and visit my profile and make me your friend.
Together we can oppose the tsnami of pro-death spending about to hit us.
YES WE CAN!

Listen to this rabbi

This year, I had the rare opportunity to meet Rabbi Yehuda Levin in front of the Supreme Court, to thank him for his outrageously funny and boldly pro-life talks at the March for Life every year. I told him of our efforts with KIDS and wished him Shalom. He is proof that ecumenism isn't about ignoring our differences, it's about celebrating what we share; love for the God of life and the source of all truth.

The Rabbi and I also agree on this. When are we going to have an end to the uproar caused by SSPX Bishop Williamson's foolish denial of the Holocaust? The Pope has denounced his remarks, his superior, Bishop Fellay has silenced him, so it should be a dead issue but somehow this issue just continues to live in the press. . .
The Rabbi is from Brooklyn: he's no dope, he smells an agenda at work. A liberal Catholic one.
"Rabbi Levin said that he believed that the Vatican has dealt appropriately with the controversial comments by SSPX Bishop Richard Williamson. However, he said that while this will will put to rest the "ridiculous" suggestions that the Pope is anti-Semitic, it will not end the controversy.
"At this point there has been a wonderfully strong renunciation of Bishop Williamson by the Vatican and therefore the Jewish community from their statements seems to be satisfied that things are going in the right way," he said. "This is just going to increase the frenzy of left wing Catholics, whether outside the Church or inside, because they now have to carry the ball in terms of keeping the attack on the Pope going."
German dissident priest-theologian Hans Kung is one such left-wing Catholic, who recently suggested in an article that Barack Obama would make a better Pope than Benedict. Writing in the German publication Sueddeutsche, Kung expressed his wish that Obama were the Pope. "The mood in the church is oppressive, reforms are paralyzed, and the church in crisis," he said. "Benedict is unteachable in matters of birth control and abortion, arrogant and without transparency and restrictive of freedom and human rights. "
By the way, The Holy Father has just announced to Jewish leaders that he will be visiting Israel next May.


Read the entire story at LifeSiteNews.com

March for Life 2009 video

The Roving Reporter at the Personhood Conference in Washington DC

Friars Didacus, Augustine and Roderic from Our Lady of Guadalupe in Griswold were ready to go down in Washington DC during the March for Life. Fra Roderic was able to "land a few big fish" when he stopped Fr Frank Pavone of Priests for Life for this interview and Dr Alan Keyes for this interview.
Here are more interviews with Lila Rose, and Fr Tom Vanderwoude, whose heroic father recently gave his life for Fr Tom's youngest brother Josie, with Down syndrome.

Why the media block out the March for Life by a journalist

"one could argue that the fact that tens of thousands of people have been descending on Washington on January 22nd for 35 years is, in itself, a remarkable achievement which should at least be acknowledged by the major news outlets.
By ignoring the March for Life, the news media do a grave disservice to the public. Viewers have a right to know that thousands of their friends and neighbors find it important enough to miss work and school one day each year in a show of solidarity against abortion. "
That's why I'll be working on my article about the March tomorrow.

Read the entire story at Life News.

Washington Times on lack of media interest in March for Life

One of the most important reasons I attend the March for Life is to cover it for you who can't make it there. We were told that the crowd of 300,000 was one of the largest ever, yet we barely make the obituary pages in mainstream press.

At least the Washington Times has the honesty to discuss the issue, but their article leaves me wondering; where are the photos of the hundreds of thousands of marchers? Their photo of Nellie Gray makes her look as lonely as the ten pro-aborts whose photos keep popping up in the photo gallery.

No paper I have read has the sense of fairness to show the impressive shot of the March filling Constitution Avenue from Capitol Hill.

KIDS at the March for Life

Here is a sneak preview of KIDS at the March for Life. The weather, thanks to many prayers, was a balmy 45 degrees, and spirits were high as we assembled in the National Right to Life Headquarters.

Seen with Eileen Haupt is Rep Cathy McMorris Rogers, part of the Congressional Down Syndrome Caucus. She gave KIDS a warm welcome in her office later that day.

A dozen members of the group Youth with a Mission were with us and posted their photos here.

A message from a civil rights leader for today; David Bereit

What a week......

Sunday was named "National Sanctity of Human LifeDay" by official proclamation of outgoing PresidentGeorge W. Bush. Churches across the nation marked the event during worship services......

Yesterday we remembered the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who changed a nation by encouraging people to go to the streets and create peaceful constructive tension that would necessitate change and ensure equal rights for all......

Mere minutes ago, the administration of the most radically pro-abortion president in history began......

And Thursday marks the 36th anniversary of thebrutal and unjust Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decisionthat imposed abortion on all 50 American states.This is a time to pray for America and -- like manycourageous reformers of the past -- there must be aresolve that "we shall overcome" the many challengesthat lie ahead in our work to end abortion.Here are a few ways you can help get 2009 off to agreat start -- for LIFE

1.) Worldwide airing of 40 Days for Life documentary

2.) Washington DC 40 Days for Life activities

3.) 40 Days for Life at West Coast Walk for Life

4.) Show your 40 Days for Life support

5.) Other memorial events across the nation

1.) WORLDWIDE AIRING OF 40 DAYS FOR LIFE DOCUMENTARY

This Wednesday night, a 30-minute documentary about40 Days for Life -- filmed by an Emmy-award-winningdirector -- will be airing in millions of homesaround the world.It's the latest installment of "beingHUMAN," and it'sairing Wednesday on the EWTN television networkimmediately before the broadcast of the NationalPrayer Vigil for Life in Washington, DC.This episode, "being HUMAN: 40 Days for Life II,"interviews volunteers, national leaders, and formerabortionists on how 40 Days for Life is renewing hopein communities across the nation.It focuses on the stories and successes that prayer,fasting, and peaceful vigil have accomplished through40 Days for Life campaigns that have now spreadacross the country and around the globe.This show is a great opportunity to get people inyour community involved in this initiative.Please spread the word to friends and family viaemail, and encourage everyone you know to watch onWednesday, January 21, at 6:30 PM (Eastern).Watch previews, see guests appearing on the show, andlearn more at:http://www.beinghumanshow.com WHAT: "being HUMAN: 40 Days for Life II" DATE: Wednesday, January 21 TIME: 6:30 PM Eastern (3:30 PM Pacific) WHERE: Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) -- available in most markets

2.) WASHINGTON DC 40 DAYS FOR LIFE ACTIVITIES

If there's any chance you can come to Washington, DC,for the huge March for Life this week, we'd love toconnect with you!I will be there along with my whole family (Margaret,Claire, and Patrick,) Shawn Carney -- spring campaigndirector -- and his wife Marilisa and son Seamus, andDavid Brandao, our communications director.In addition to the March for Life itself, we will beinvolved in numerous other activities going on in DC.We just posted our schedule online of all the variousactivities we'll be involved with, including a veryspecial "40 Days for Life Gathering" which we areholding just for you. Check it out at:http://www.40daysforlife.com/events That page also has a PDF one-sheet handout withdetails about the various activities so you can printit out and keep it in your pocket while in DC.Also, to get the latest updates on the 40 Days forLife schedule while in DC, you have two options:>> To get live text message updates, text "40DAYS" to 25827>> To follow us via live updates on Twitter, visit: http://twitter.com/40daysforlife We'll keep you posted about where we'll be when so wecan meet up in person.

Hope to see you there, Leticia!

We will see each other at Rock for Life Activism Training, David!

3.) 40 DAYS FOR LIFE AT WEST COAST WALK FOR LIFE

Tens of thousands of pro-lifers from across the WestCoast will gather in San Francisco at Justin HermanPlaza on Market Street for the Walk for Life thiscoming Saturday, January 24, beginning at 11 AM(Pacific time).The event will start with a rally featuring speakersand music, followed by the walk. At the conclusion ofthe walk, West Coast 40 Days for Life leaders andparticipants are invited to a special 40 Days forLife reunion and meet and greet at the 40 Days forLife information table that will be on the MarinaGreens, near the end of the walk.Even though our national team members will still bein Washington, DC, Fr. Frank Pavone has agreed tojoin the 40 Days for Life gathering to meet andencourage everyone. T-shirts, fliers, and other 40Days for Life material will be available.For more information, please contact Wynette Sills bye-mail: wsills@succeed.net or phone: 916-955-1577.

4.) SHOW YOUR 40 DAYS FOR LIFE SUPPORT

If you're attending any events to memorialize the Roev. Wade decision -- or just want to show your supportof 40 Days for Life -- one of our vendors that makespremium 40 Days for Life merchandise including hats,shirts, fleeces, signs, banners and bumper stickers,has just slashed prices for a big "Pre 40 Days forLife SALE."Learn more and get your 40 Days for Life gear at significantly reduced prices at:http://www.40daysmerchandise.net *****************************************************

5.) OTHER MEMORIAL EVENTS ACROSS THE NATION

Other events memorializing the 50 million lives thathave been lost to abortion since Roe v. Wade will beheld all across the nation. If you can't make it toWashington DC or San Francisco, check with your local or state pro-life group to find the nearest event.Let's turn out at these memorials in record numbersthis year to show the entire world that

WE

SHALL

OVERCOME

the crisis of abortion.

Pressing Forward,

David Bereit

National Director

40 Days for Life